Kewell reveals injury fears
Harry Kewell feared he would never be able to play again at the highest level as he battled back from a year of injury misery.
Two summer operations, on groin and muscle problems, have seen the Australian midfielder reclaim his place in the Liverpool side and at last show the Liverpool fans the form which made his name at Leeds.
And the 27-year-old has vowed to “never, ever” look back at the period when his depression and fitness levels threatened to wreck his Anfield career.
Kewell is expected to play in his ninth successive match when Liverpool face Portsmouth in the FA Cup fourth round at Fratton Park, by far his longest unbroken spell in the side in over a year.
“I knew I was always going to play again but I did wonder whether I was ever going to play at the level that I could play at. I did question myself,” Kewell admitted.
“Halfway through the injury it was hard, it was very difficult for me. I kept thinking ’would this pain ever go away?’
“But I had my club medical staff and Australian medical staff who were helping me. They said I had to persist with what I was doing.
“I thought I had got there, then I would have a setback again, then I would get something else and it would be worse.
“I would try to strike a ball and I knew it wasn’t going to happen and that would set me back. If there was a thumbnail sketch of what it was all like, it was the Champions League Final in Istanbul.
“I was told at the start of the season that my groin could snap at any time. And the manager knew exactly what I was going through, he knew what I could and couldn’t do and then come the final I was feeling good.
“I was training, I could not strike a ball properly but I could strike it. I was feeling good and then the manager told me I was playing in the biggest game of my life. Then to go out there about 20 minutes into the game and to go into a tackle and the groin snapped. It was horrible.”
Kewell, with a mixture of sweat and tears pouring down his face in the dugout, had to sit and watch Liverpool’s miraculous comeback to lift the trophy.
He added: “I had mixed emotions. For me on a personal level it was a nightmare. It was something I wanted to be part of and couldn’t be, having not contributed. But on a team level it was fantastic, I was so proud of the team.
“Now I do not want to think about the past. It is one thing I do not think about. I wake up every morning and just look forward because that is the best thing for me now because it was a horrible part of my life.
“Looking forward is the best for me now. I have a great tournament coming up in the World Cup and everything is all rosy at the moment.”
Kewell knows he owes much to boss Rafael Benitez and is quick to add: “I have never lost confidence and the manager has been my biggest supporter inside the club.
“A lot of people have criticised me over the last year, saying my heart is not in the club, but he has always backed me 110%. It just proves with him playing me now that he has always had a lot of confidence in me and for that I am very grateful.
“I needed support, a lot of it, especially from the club because they all knew what I was going through and what a difficult injury it was to get over, and it was very important to me that I did have that support.
“I kind of just forgot about the criticism, I just concentrated on myself. People were going to throw things at me whether they knew the truth or not. So let them be, it’s no skin off my back.”
